From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buffalograss
turf-type buffalograss
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Genus:	Buchloe
Species:	B. dactyloides
Binomial name
Buchloe dactyloides (Nutt.) Columbus

Buffalograss or buffalo grass (Buchloe dactyloides) is a native North American prairie grass. A shortgrass found mainly on the high plains, it is a valuable fodder. Buffalograss is co-dominant with blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis) over most of the shortgrass prairie.

Buffalograss is distributed from central Montana east to Minnesota and south to eastern coastal Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, eastern Arizona, and northern Mexico. It is incidental in northern Idaho and Virginia.

Buffalograss is a warm-season, native perennial shortgrass. It is drought-, heat-, and cold-resistant. Foliage is usually 2–5 inches (5.1–13 cm) high, though in the southern Great Plains foliage may reach 12 inches (30 cm). Buffalograss is usually dioecious. Plants are occasionally monoecious, sometimes with perfect flowers. Flower stalks are 4–8 inches (10–20 cm) tall. The male inflorescence is a panicle; the female inflorescence consists of short spikelets borne in burlike clusters, usually with two to four spikelets per bur.

Buffalograss sends out numerous, branching stolons; occasionally it also produces rhizomes. Roots are also numerous and thoroughly occupy the soil. The numerous stolons and roots form a dense sod. Buffalograss roots are finer than those of most plains grasses, being less than 1 millimetre (0.039 in) in diameter.

External links

• Buchloe dactyloides at U.S. Dept of Agriculture
• Turf-Type Buchloe dactyloides at Native Turf Group (non-profit)
• USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.